HICEE B.V. v. The Slovak Republic

This case arose from the enactment of a law by which health insurance companies were prohibited from distributing profits and made subject to a cap on their permissible administrative expenses. The Claimant’s claims were made in relation to its interests in two Slovak health insurance companies held through a corporate intermediary. The key aspect of this case was whether the Claimant’s interests in sub-subsidiaries constituted an investment under Article 1(a) of the applicable Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), which limited investments to assets “invested either directly or through an investor of a third State.


Case information

Name(s) of Claimant(s) HICEE B.V. (Private entity )
Name(s) of Respondent(s) The Slovak Republic (State)
Names of Parties -
Case number 2009-11
Administering institution Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA)
Case status Concluded
Type of case Investment arbitration
Subject matter or economic sector Financial and insurance
Procedural rules UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules 1976
Treaty or contract under which proceedings were commenced

Bilateral treaty
Agreement on Encouragement and Reciprocal Protection of Investments between The Kingdom of the Netherlands and The Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, signed on April 29, 1991, entered into force on October 1, 1992.
Country A: Netherlands
Country B: Slovakia

Language of Proceeding English
Seat of Arbitration (by Country) United Kingdom
Arbitrator(s), Conciliator(s), Other Neutral(s)

Sir Franklin Berman KCMG QC (Presiding Arbitrator)

The Hon. Judge Charles N. Brower

H.E. Judge Peter Tomka

Representatives of the Claimant(s)

Mr. Stanimir A. Alexandrov, Mr. Daniel M. Price, Ms. Marinn Carlson and Ms. Jennifer Haworth McCandless (Sidley Austin LLP); Judge Stephen M. Schwebel; Mgr. Martin Škubla, Mgr. Daniela Švecová and Mgr. Miroslava Petrovicová (MGR. Martin Škubla, Advokátska Kancelária S.R.O.).

Representatives of the Respondent(s)

Mr. David Kavanagh, Mr. David Herlihy and Ms. Genevieve Poirier (Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (UK) LLP

Representatives of the Parties
Number of Arbitrators in case 3
Date of commencement of proceeding 17 December 2008
Date of issue of final award 17 October 2011
Length of Proceedings 2-3 years
Additional notes -